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Thursday, 22 September 2016

The
Muslim community owes a big thank you to Ven. Gnanasara thero. He has
done a great service to Muslims which the community was struggling
to make happen for half a century.

Muslims
in srilanka had been following a so called Muslim culture rather than the
real religion for centuries. Then with the reawakening of Islam which swept
through the world in the 20th century entered
Srilanka too and a small number Muslims understood the notion of
every Muslim studying the Quran and following the shariah laws in our personal
lives. But it was an uphill task and the conservative Muslims even opposed the
change. Many Muslim organizations were working in the field, mostly not
to preach Islam rather to do social service. Many of them were at
loggerheads with each other, almost to the point of drawing daggers. Enmity
and rivalry were commoner than comradeship and corporation. Persuading people
to study quran was an uphill task.

Then
tsunami hit the island wreaking havoc mainly in the Muslims areas. All the
Muslim organizations came together, to do relief work but still not on studying
the religion. The enmity lessened but did not disappear. Rivalry continued.

Then
BBS came into the picture. Every single Muslim saw a common enemy and it
brought a comradeship among the differing organizations and sects that even
major calamities like tsunami, cyclone and floods could not bring about.

When
the Halal issue arose, actually the Muslims they themselves were not aware of
what really Halal stood for. A vague sense of halal food was what most Muslims
had but when the Thero sarcastically said ”one of these days they will say the
wife also has to be halal” and the scholars replied, “Certainly they must be,
for the word Halal is not restricted to food” everyone wanted to know what is
halal and haram. They started listening to the lectures more carefully, halal
became the talk of the town and people started adhering to halal in every
aspect of day to day matters very diligently.

When
he mentioned falsely that the quran orders us to spit into the food offered to
the non Muslims, many Muslims who have never touched a translation of the
quran, wanted to find out for themselves whether there is such a
thing and started reading the quran. In fact there was a short period
soon after the Kandy BBS meeting the Quran translations flew from the bookshops
like hot cakes. The beauty was that even non Muslims started reading the
quran, when Ven Gnansara started misquoting the quran one after the
other. Muslims specifically wanted to know the actual
explanations and started to study the shariah laws more carefully.

The
rivalry and enmity reduced drastically among Muslim organizations; the All
Ceylon Jammiyathul ulema which was just a theological figure head until then
started taking active interest in matters of state and rose to a position of
leadership.

Islam
preaches that when problems arise in the society to look into our own lives.
That if we lead proper Islamic lives, Allah will rectify the
problems. This fact was driven into people’s mind, making many a Muslim
becoming pious when the common enemy threatened their very lives. The
grease men brought total friendship, mutual protection, awareness of danger and
methods of warning among neighbors, both Muslims and non Muslims.

Then
Aluthgama happened. That brought all the leaders – including politicians who
had been in utter disarray, intellectuals, social workers and the
philanthropists like nothing else could have. Muslim council of Srilanka became
very active and National shura council was born. Now all the differing
factions of the Muslim organizations are seen on the same stage in many
meetings which was unthinkable just 50 years back.

That’s
not all. I asked an Aluthgama resident recently how matters are there. He said
they – all of them, every single one of them are better off than before the
riots. They have better houses, better businesses but most of all better
religious knowledge and practice.

And
of course the regiment that brought the BBS into the scene and nurtured it,
came down with a thundering crash ending a decade of corruption and
bigotry to the joy of not only Muslims but to the entire country.

That’s
not the end of it. The best outcome is the show of assurance and the
corporation of the non Muslims in the face of abuse of Muslims. It is
heart warming how many highly respectable Bhikkus came out publicly
condemning the abuse by BBS and helped the Muslims; how many non muslim
politicians showed support for the Muslims even risking their own lives; and
the common men on the roads including intellectuals, free thinkers, housewives
and three wheeler drivers expressed utter contempt for the BBS openly and
supported the Muslims and commented favorably on their patience and unity. A
few even embraced Islam after reading the Quran out of curiosity.

The
allegation that Muslims are secretly nurturing a terrorist outfit in Srilanka
was proved utterly false in the face of all the allegations. If ever there was
a reason for such terrorist organization to come forth, it would have been at
the Aluthgama massacre. No such thing happened.

Islam
preaches that “Every trial is but a blessing in disguise” – BBS certainly is
the best blessing the Muslims have had in recent times.

So
here is a Big bouquet to you Ven. Gnanasara thero and Thank you BBS!

Allah
says in the Quran “They plot and plan, and Allah too plots and plans; But
Allah is the Best of the planners”.